


forever (is a long time)

by noodlecatposts



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Friends to Lovers, Hellas the Cat, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24746926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlecatposts/pseuds/noodlecatposts
Summary: Elide is surprised when Lorcan offers her the spare room in his apartment, but it's not like she has any other options. So, she accepts. After all, what's the worst that could happen?
Relationships: Elide Lochan & Lorcan Salvaterre, Elide Lochan/Lorcan Salvaterre
Comments: 11
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Elide is surprised** when Lorcan offers her his spare bedroom, having overheard her desperate situation at a party one night. It’s surprising because Elide’s barely spoken to him in the past, but here he is, stepping in when she needs help.

“Whatever,” Lorcan plays down his generosity. It becomes clear very quickly to Elide that the man is uncomfortable with thanks or praise. “It’s no big deal,” he says, but Elide thanks him again anyway. “Seriously, stop. I could use the help on the rent now that Rowan ditched me.”

“Still,” Elide persists, but Lorcan cuts her off with a wave.

“House Rule Numero Uno,” he says, staring Elide down with a stern expression. She jumps to attention, her brown eyes wide with focus. “No, giving thanks.”

Elide smiles despite herself, “Roger.”

*

The reactions Elide gets when she shares the news fall into one category: shock.

Rowan and Aelin are the first to find out. Elide needs help to move her things from the shitty sublease she’s currently in. Under normal circumstances, Elide would never have picked such a terrible living situation for herself, but Elide was desperate then, too. Living with her uncle was a toxic situation; she’d needed out.

“You’re—what?” Aelin shouts loudly at the dinner table. Rowan nudges her with an elbow, a silent request to behave herself. They’re in public, but that’s never stopped Aelin from causing a ruckus.

Still, Aelin hisses under her breath, leaning forward on her elbows. “You can’t possibly think that’s a good idea, El.”

“I think it’s the only idea,” Elide informs her. “Where else am I supposed to go? You know the lease I have now is terrible. It’s only a matter of time until I wind up murdered. At least, I know Lorcan won’t kill me.”

Aelin scoffs, clearly resisting the urge to disagree. Rowan cuts her off, always ready to temper his girlfriend. Two sides of the same coin these two.

“I think having Lorcan as a roommate might be more than what you’re expecting,” the level headed man argues. “Sure, he won’t kill you, but only because you’re paying rent.”

Aelin makes an expression that clearly reads: _I told you so._

“Well, I used to live with this one,” Elide motions towards Aelin, whose haughty expression immediately turns offended. “I think I can handle Lorcan. You would know best, Rowan. Are they really all that different?”

A smile plays at Rowan’s lips. His girlfriend promptly elbows him, “Rude!”

“You’ll be fine,” Rowan admits, lifting his cup to his lips to hide his grin. “I’d say they’re about the same: always making noise and getting into other people’s things.”

“Yeah, except for one important thing, Rowan Whitethorn,” Aelin says warningly. Her turquoise and gold eyes flash, “I give you sex. Often.”

“For which, I am very appreciative,” Rowan replies, and Elide can’t fight the smile on her face. “But you’re a real pain in the ass sometimes, Ms. Galathynius.”

“Cool,” Elide says, laughing. “It’ll be totally fine then.”

*

Elide moves into Lorcan’s guest bedroom, formerly Rowan’s room, and the pair find a comfortable rhythm. Lorcan is almost always absent from the apartment, and when he’s home, he usually camps out in two places: the couch or his room. Elide almost feels like she still lives alone.

She comes home one night from work to find Lorcan on the couch. He’s booted up a video game and is utterly concentrated on the task at hand. Elide considers just moving onward towards her room and curling up for the evening, but something possesses her to plop on the couch beside him and prop her feet up on the coffee table.

“Something wrong?” Lorcan asks during a loading screen. Elide eyes him curiously until he looks away from the television and towards her.

“Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy,” Elide says very softly. Rowan and the rest of the guys were the exceptions to that; however, Elide’s circle—they were very open about their disapproval.

“That’s all?” Lorcan says indifferently. If someone told Elide that people were saying that about her, she’d be more upset; Lorcan doesn’t seem to care at all. Almost like it’s expected.

“That doesn’t bother you?” She asks because she has to. Elide wants to know Lorcan better; she lives with him now. Before he was always Rowan’s friend, someone she saw in passing at large gatherings. Now they shared a home.

Lorcan shrugs. “Why should it?”

“Cause,” Elide begins. “What people say about you—that matters.”

“Only if you let it matter,” Lorcan explains, shrugging one shoulder. “The people who know me know the truth, and that’s all there is to it.”

His words are surprisingly deep. Elide is a little taken aback by them, and then she realizes: Elide wasn’t any better than the rest of her friends. She wrote Lorcan off as being the asshole lone wolf. The guy that didn’t give a shit. Was any of that true? Well, maybe the last part.

“Now, don’t take this the wrong way, Roomie,” Lorcan continues. “But you’re kind of messing up my killstreak here. So, if you don’t mind…”

“Oh,” Elide shakes off her thoughts. “Yeah, I’ll leave you alone now. Have a good night.”

“Word,” he says, eyes never leaving the screen. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

Something about that last line makes Elide laugh, sincere carefree giggles. Lorcan flashes a toothy grin her way, and then returns to that warrior-like focus, looking away.

This won’t be so bad, Elide tells herself. As Rowan said, Elide and Lorcan will be fine.

-


	2. Chapter 2

Elide only notices the cat as she trips over it.

Guilt washes over her, and Elide spins around right away to beg it’s forgiveness. The first thing she notices is it’s small, too small to be out here in the cold and dark all alone, but it takes one look at her with its yellow eyes and bolts.

Elide chases after it.

*

“What the fuck is _that_?” Lorcan exclaims when he gets home from work. Elide sits atop the counter, eating from a carton, and watching the little black kitten sniff around the apartment. She hasn’t picked a name for it yet; she’s afraid to get attached in the event she has to find another home for him.

“You’ve never seen a cat before?” Elide says around a forkful of Lo Mein. The dark-haired man shoots her a _Fuck you, of course, I’ve seen a cat before_ expression and waits for an explanation.

She sighs, “He was outside in the rain and cold. I couldn’t just _leave_ him behind.”

“Uh, yeah, you definitely could,” Lorcan tells her. He adds in afterthought, “I hate cats.”

“Cats are awesome,” Elide defends, hackles raised. Okay, she’s grown too attached to the creature already. What else did she expect to happen after coaxing it out from under the dumpster with some of her Chinese takeout?

“Whatever,” he growls, tossing his jacket onto the couch. The kitten jumps ten feet into the air and bolts down the hallway, hissing and spitting. Lorcan points after it, “We’re not keeping the little demon.”

“I—what?” Elide jumps off the counter and follows after him. “Wait a second! You’ve at least got to hear me out!”

She spent the whole walk home clutching the scared creature and trying to come up with an argument in favor of keeping it, and now Lorcan wasn’t even going to give her a chance. Instead, her roommate makes the most of his long legs, walking swiftly down the hallway and away from her. Elide walks faster to keep up.

“Rule #2: You have to hear your roommate out!” She shouts.

Lorcan stops in the doorway of the bathroom; he arches a brow and counters, “Rule #2: _no cats_.”

“That’s a stupid rule,” Elide snorts, raising her chin in defiance of the man in front of her. Lorcan seems impressed despite himself. “Mine is better.”

Lorcan barks a laugh, “Fuck, alright. Let’s hear it—after I piss.”

Elide wrinkles her nose, huffing at her roommate to let him know how she feels about his vulgarity. Lorcan just wiggles his brows, “I can leave the door open if you’re too impatient.”

“Maybe Aelin was on to something,” Elide tells him. “You’re _gross_.”

“You tell that fire-breathing bitch queen,” Lorcan says as he closes the door, “right back at her.”

*

“I’ll take care of him,” Elide insists for the hundredth time. “And he won’t take up much space. He’s a cat. Besides, I already cleared it with the landlord.”

“You did what?”

Elide flushes, “Well, I knew you’d be the tougher sell. No point in wasting my time convincing you if our lease didn’t allow pets.”

“How…economic of you,” Lorcan says. “How’d you convince him? That guy wouldn’t let me keep a snake.”

She blinks, “I said, please?”

“You didn’t say please to me,” Elide’s roommate informs her.

She rolls her eyes, “Because you’re a dick.”

Lorcan breaks into laughter again, a deep rumble that slides across Elide’s bones. The kitten startles at the noise, takes off running again. Someone has some trust issues. “Fuck, fine. You can keep the bastard.”

“Really?” Elide breathes. She honestly didn’t think she’d manage to convince him.

Lorcan shrugs, “Whatever.”

Elide squeals in delight. She doesn’t think before she launches herself at Lorcan, hugging him where he’s sprawled on the couch. He grunts at the impact, but Elide can only hear herself thanking him repeatedly.

“Rule #1,” Lorcan reminds her with a grunt, patting her shoulder awkwardly. Elide’s grip on him doesn’t loosen.

“You’re the best roommate ever!” Elide tells him instead. Lorcan tries to pry her off of him; he gives up quickly.

“Listen,” Lorcan grunts, clearly uncomfortable—both with affection and thanks. Noted. “I enjoy this hug and all, but can you stop?”

“Oh,” Elide releases him, blushing as she realizes how she’s thrown herself atop him. “Yeah, sorry.”

Lorcan grimaces, but then his face turns serious. “But if he starts tearing shit up or whatever he’s _out_.”

“He won’t! I promise,” Elide swears with a smile so big her face hurts. Lorcan’s cold expression softens a little, and Elide has to break eye contact. “Right, um, I’m going to go figure out where Hellas has gone.”

“Hellas?” Lorcan sounds incredulous as he calls after her, “You named that _thing,_ _Hellas_.”

“Yup,” Elide says. “I think it works.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lorcan is just dozing off when the front door opens with a crash, closes with another loud bang. He startles upright, blinking away the sleepiness and replacing it with panic; Lorcan catches a glimpse of Elide’s long, brown ponytail as she races down the hallway and disappears into her bedroom.

Usually, they just politely ignore each other. Most of their interactions are “pass the coffee” and “the light bill is due,” but something in her urgency makes Lorcan get up and seek her out. Hellas protests his decision immediately with a yowl as he gets displaced. The cat may or may not have curled up in his lap without Lorcan’s consent.

“Where’s the fucking fire?” Lorcan calls as he reaches her doorway. He’s not expecting to find Elide standing in a nude, modest bra and leggings, and the sight surprises him. The door was ajar. He clears his throat and looks away.

Elide’s eye roll is practically audible. “It’s just a bra. You’ve seen women in way less.”

She’s not wrong, but it also isn’t the same thing. He tells her as much.

“Whatever,” she grumbles. “I don’t have time to argue the semantics of your whoring.”

Lorcan is a little disappointed. Their arguments are some of his favorites, though rare on occasion. Elide never backs down from an opportunity to call him out on his shit, and Lorcan has yet to find her limit on insults to trade. “So, what’s up?”

“Um,” she holds a dress to herself in the full-length mirror in her room. Elide grunts and throws it over her shoulder. She reaches for another. “Well… I’ve got a date.”

“Oh,” Lorcan says lamely. He didn’t know she was dating, and to be honest, Elide didn’t really seem like the kind of girl that went on dates, if that made any sense. “Who’s the guy?”

“A coworker,” she tells him. “This morning, he asked if I was free tonight, and I said yes. Which was stupid, because now I’m totally unprepared.”

“He asked you this morning?” Lorcan blurts out without thinking. Elide, having settled on a dress, shoots him a look as she steps into it.

“What’s wrong with that?” she asks, shimmying into the swath of fabric.

“Uh, nothing,” Lorcan starts, but Elide looks unconvinced. When she rests her hands on her hips, Lorcan caves, “It’s just—the guy waited to the last minute, didn’t he?”

“Is there a timeframe for this kind of thing?” Elide asks. He assumes she’s being sarcastic, but the look in her eyes makes Lorcan realize she isn’t.

He clears his throat as he tries to figure out the nicest way to say it. “Uh, well, it seems like he didn’t put any thought into it—or worse, his other plans fell through, so he used you as a backup.”

Elide’s face falls, and Lorcan feels guilty right away. He’s an asshole; he should’ve just minded his own damn business and let his roommate have her night. Now she’s going to spend the whole evening wondering if the guy she was on a date with was wishing she was someone else.

Then she glares at him coldly enough to set his nerves on end. Lorcan stands up a little taller.

“Are you speaking from experience?” She hisses, and Lorcan knows she won’t like his answer, so he chooses to say nothing. She scoffs, acknowledging the nonanswer for what it is.

“Alright, asshole,” Elide begins, walking up to him and turning her back to him. “Zip me up so we can find out.”

He clears his throat and reaches for her zipper. It’s a weirdly intimate move, and Lorcan tries to recall a time where he’s ever zipped up a woman’s dress for her. He’s usually doing the unzipping.

“There you go,” he says, awkward. Elide takes two steps away from him, doing a little spin.

She asks, “Well, how did I do?”

Lorcan gives her a brief once over. She looks great. Lorcan’s not blind; he’s noticed his roommate is attractive. When he looks her in the eye, one corner of her mouth is quirked to the side in amusement. He plasters on that old, comfortable, sharp grin of his and tells his roommate, “You clean up well Lochan.”

*

Hellas appears at the coffee table just as Lorcan flops onto the couch with a cup of noodles. His full, yellow eyes watch him sharply. It’s only been a month, but the cat has grown into a healthy young troublemaker. Grown more confident too.

“It’s just you and me tonight, bud,” he tells the feline. The cat tilts his head in acknowledgment.

Those yellow eyes look to Lorcan’s food then to his face, an expectant expression in them. Lorcan glares, “This is my dinner. Your mom already gave you yours.”

The man never knew cats could make such innocent facial expressions. Hellas glances towards his food station, tail flicking, and then looks back at Lorcan. His eyes say _But I’m all out._

“Then you should learn to ration it better,” Lorcan grumbles. Hellas fluffs up his fur to tell Lorcan he disagrees with the sentiment. Lor takes a bite out of his food. It’s still way too fucking hot, and he burns his tongue.

Hellas flees the room when he swears. Lorcan calls after him, “Coward!”

Lorcan eats alone. That’s pretty typical unless one of the guys is up to something, but tonight, he realizes it. He’s alone for dinner, while Rowan is probably having dinner with Aelin, the twins always have dinner with each other, Gavriel and Vaughan probably met up, too. Even Elide has a date.

“Whatever,” he mumbles to himself, stabbing his noodles hard enough that he nearly punctures the styrofoam cup. “It’s better this way.”

*

Elide and Lorcan are both off the next morning. She was out later than Lorcan stayed up, which was weird. He’d wanted to know how the date went; he didn’t know how to bring it up now, without seeming too invested. But he wanted to. It was the first thing he thought of as he woke up.

“Easy there, hotshot,” Elide chastises the yowling kitten in the hallway. Lorcan can practically hear his claws digging into the hardwood. “Breakfast is imminent. I _promise_.”

Lorcan tries to summon his typical outrage at being woken up, but he’s actually excited for the chance to find out how Elide’s date went. The curiosity is strange for him; he’s not typically all that invested in other people’s lives like that. But he wants to know.

“You idiot,” Elide complains from the area she feeds Hellas. “There’s food all over your head now! You couldn’t just wait for me to finish?”

Lorcan is laughing before he’s even rounded the corner. It’s become their thing—Elide suffers at the hands of her rescue cat, and Lorcan laughs at her struggles. He’s certainly not going to tell her that sometimes he shares his fries with Hellas.

“You wanted a cat,” is all Lorcan says. Elide scoffs at him; she turns around, likely to give him a dirty look, but her eyes drop to his bare chest. He tries not to preen just as hard as he tries not to stare at all the bare leg Elide has on display. Living with a roommate of the opposite sex—It was weird.

“He needed a home,” Elide says, discarding the empty can of cat food and washing her hands. “He forgot to mention to me what a bratty little jerk he was, or I would’ve left him out in the street.”

“Liar,” Lorcan grins. “You love that bratty little jerk.”

Elide’s smile is crooked, “Yeah.”

“So,” he clears his throat. He blurts out the rest before he can reconsider, “How was the date?”

Elide’s face goes blank. He thinks that that’s a bad sign, but she tells him, “Fine.”

“Fine,” he repeats. Lorcan doesn’t know what that means, and Elide must see that because she crosses her arms over herself protectively, ducking her head to avoid his eye. It makes Lorcan feel a lot of strange things at once; he’ s—concerned. He wants, needs, to know if that asshat did something— if he needs to go kick his ass to next Tuesday.

“Uh,” Elide’s cheeks turn red. She still won’t look at him. “It was a date… I guess.”

Lorcan can tell there’s more, so he remains silent. Elide stares at her feet for a long while; Hellas finishes his food and begins to circle his owner’s ankles for attention. Elide picks him up and holds him close to her body.

“I’ve never been kissed before,” Elide says so softly that Lorcan nearly misses it.

“What?” He asks because he can’t believe it rather than having not heard.

His roommate’s face turns an even darker shade of red, and she shoves her face into the soft black fur of her cat. She repeats herself, “I’ve never been kissed before.”

“But you’re hot,” Lorcan tells her immediately. He regrets the words as soon as they leave his mouth.

Elide rolls her eyes at him, but there’s no missing the pleased tilt of her lips. “Gee, thanks.”

“Shit,” he says. “Sorry. It’s just… no one’s tried to kiss you?”

“My date did last night,” Elide’s nose scrunches up as she thinks about it. Hellas’s paw pats against her face while she ignores him, little asshole. “Well, he definitely tried to, but I chickened out.”

Lorcan arches a brow. Avoiding a kiss seems like an excellent way to not get kissed. “Bad breath?”

Another eye roll, “His breath was fine.”

“I meant yours.”

“Fuck you,” Elide says, but she’s laughing now. Lorcan’s pleased to watch as the tension falls from her shoulders. Hellas, having realized he won’t be the center of attention any longer, seeks release from Elide’s arms; the cat jumps to the floor and takes off in a flurry. Like he’s got anywhere to be.

“You’d have to kiss me first,” Lorcan jokes, lightning-fast. Elide turns red again; to his disappointment, his roommate just flips him off and leaves the room.

*

When Elide sits down beside him the next night, Lorcan knows she’s got something to say. It’s been a little over 24 hours since their last conversation about the kissing, and Elide hasn’t stopped thinking since then. He can tell. His roommate is easy to read, spacing out and chewing on her lip.

He waits for a good place to pause his video game, does so, and waits.

Elide blurts out, “Teach me how to kiss.”

Lorcan goes still. Did she just say what he thinks she said? The crimson color of her cheeks, her forehead, her chin, and her neck suggest so. Lorcan didn’t know a person could blush that hard.

“What?” He croaks.

If Elide bites her lip any harder, her teeth are going to go through it. His roommate stutters at first, but eventually, she manages to repeat herself, “Kissing. Can you show me how to do it?”

“Why do you need— _show_ you?”

Elide recovers from her embarrassment long enough to scowl, “You could at least pretend not to find the idea of kissing me horrifying.”

“What?” Clearly, his brain isn’t working correctly.

“It’s just,” Elide continues. She seems not to notice how Lorcan’s mind has short-circuited. “I chickened out last night because I didn’t know _how to kiss someone_. I didn’t want to mess it up or whatever. But I _wanted_ to kiss him. I was just scared.”

Lorcan clears his throat, “You can’t do it wrong, El. It’s just kissing.”

Even as he says it, Lorcan knows she sees right through it. “Aelin would beg to differ.”

“So, why don’t you ask her?” He asks instead of asking _Why me?_

Elide’s face falls, “Because she doesn’t know, and she’d _never_ let me live it down if she found out about it.”

“Oh… I thought you were close?”

“You know what?” Elide says, turning red again. “This was a stupid idea. Never mind. I’ll figure it out.”

She hops off the couch and runs for her bedroom. Lorcan feels like a dick; although, he isn’t sure why. “Wait!” He calls after her, “Shit—El!”

He follows after her, catching her door with his foot so that she can’t slam it in his face. He’d deserve it. Elide rests her hands on her hips and glares at him, challenging him to say something else.

“I’ll do it,” Lorcan says, feeling really weird all of a sudden. “I just—give a guy a break. You can’t just spring that on me outta nowhere.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she repeats. “Since I’m clearly so unkissable, I don’t think it’ll be a problem going forward.”

“You can be a real pain in the ass, you know that, right?” He seethes, and Elide tries to close the door in his face again. He catches it. “Now shut up, and fucking listen to me. _Rule two.”_

Her brown eyes promise murder, but Elide doesn’t say anything. She crosses her arms in defense and allows Lorcan to reopen the door.

“First of all, no poor bastard is going to have the balls to kiss you when you’re looking at him like that,” Lorcan starts. A wicked gleam enters Elide’s eye. “Second, a guy doesn’t always have to make the first move, Miss Feminist. Equal opportunities for all.”

“Gods, you’re such a dick,” she tells him. Lorcan shrugs; it isn’t an incorrect statement.

Lorcan steps into her space before she can set about tearing into him. Elide holds her ground as he knew she would, and Lorcan tips her chin upward to kiss her. He swallows; this isn’t weird, right?

He brushes his lips against hers, and when Elide’s mouth falls open, Lorcan can’t resist the chance to kiss her better, show her how it’s done. It’s quick. Simple. He doesn’t bother with the party tricks; Lorcan isn’t trying to convince this girl to go home with him. This is Elide, his roommate.

The slightest hint of his tongue in her mouth makes Elide gasp, and Lorcan is definitely feeling a little smug when he pulls away. Then he remembers a crucial detail—Elide’s never kissed _anyone before._

Fuck, he should not have done that. Isn’t a girl’s first kiss supposed to mean something to them?

Elide looks thoughtful for a second, and then she brushes the moment off like dust. “Right. I think I got the gist of it.”

 _Thanks_? He stares at her dumbly as Elide backs him from her room. “Oh. Word.”

Elide flashes a grateful smile, “Thanks.”

She closes the door without further discussion, and he stares at it for a moment. Lorcan was not expecting a cavalier attitude, but he also doesn’t know what he was expecting exactly. He shakes his head and heads back for his video games. Living with a girl is fucking weird.

*


	4. Chapter 4

“This isn’t what it looks like,” is how Lorcan greets Elide when she walks in the front door.

Elide pauses; she hasn’t even looked in her roommate’s direction, yet. Though, now she is very, very afraid to do so. If she looks to the left now, towards the living room and the couch, is she about to find Lorcan sitting butt naked on the sofa? Her cheeks flush at the thought. That would be awkward.

“What… am I going to think it looks like?” Elide says carefully. “Is it a violation of Rule 4?”

Rule #4: No nudity in communal spaces. Lorcan apparently had no qualms about walking to the kitchen in the middle of the night without clothes on. Learning he slept in the nude was not something Elide ever needed to know, but she was now acutely aware of it.

He told her she could strut around without pants, too, if it made her feel any better. Elide invoked the rule immediately. Lorcan shrugged, but the man complied—until now, it seems.

“Rule—shit,” Lorcan swears. “I’m not fucking naked. Geeze, Elide. What kind of creep do you think I am? Fuck, don’t answer that.”

Elide bites her lip, but his horror comforts her enough that she feels comfortable looking in the direction of her roommate. Lorcan is sprawled from one end of the couch to the other, his feet dangling off one end. It takes her a moment to figure out what Lorcan is so defensive of, and then she notices the black ball of fur nestled against Lorcan’s equally black shirt.

“Traitor!” she cries as her heart melts into a puddle. One yellow eye cracks open to look down upon her, and then Hellas closes it, stretching his legs out and flexing his claws.

She glares at Lorcan, “I thought you _didn’t like cats_.”

“I don’t,” he agrees right away. Elide motions towards her feline, and Lorcan sighs, “The little bastard snuck over when I fell asleep.”

“You’re awake now,” Elide says. She knows she’s being a brat, but she can’t help herself.

“I didn’t want to bother him,” Lorcan explains. “I’m pretty sure he’d slit my throat. That’s why he keeps showing me his claws, right?”

Elide rolls her eyes, “Whatever. Enjoy your new friend.”

Lorcan cracks a grin as she walks away, saying, “Someone’s _jealous._ ”

“I am not jealous,” Elide huffs. “Hellas is my cat. I’ve got nothing to be jealous of.”

Except for the fact that he _never_ cuddles her like that. Okay, Elide is totally jealous, but she’ll never let Lorcan know that fact. The last thing she needs is her roommate having another topic with which to tease her about.

Lorcan, of course, sees right through her, “You can join us if you want.”

“I’ll pass,” Elide wrinkles her nose at him, and he laughs deeply. His chest rises and falls with the sound, and Hellas is immediately disturbed. The cat unwinds from his curled up position and huffs a breath through his little nose.

“Whatever, dude. You’re the one forcing your affections on people,” Lorcan tells the kitten. Hellas sits upright, fur ruffled, and glares down at the man. Fearless. Elide wishes she could live so bravely.

“Careful,” Elide warns, watching with a smile as Hellas stretches atop Lorcan’s chest before leaping away from the couch. The kitten is back at her ankles in an instant, and Elide thinks everything is back the way it should be. “He bites.”

“I bite, too,” Lorcan promises.

The words surprise her, and Elide flushes, ducking her head and leaving the room before her roommate can catch her. She’s been doing that a lot lately, more and more. The good news is Lorcan is utterly oblivious, too consumed with himself to notice. The bad news is Elide thinks she might want him to.

-


	5. Chapter 5

“What are you doing?” Elide asks from the kitchen. Lorcan’s curled up like Hellas on the couch underneath a blanket. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen the man look more comfortable in her life, but then again, Lorcan’s the kind of guy that doesn’t get _uncomfortable_.

Lorcan snuggles deeper into the couch and mumbles, “It’s movie night.”

Elide grins at him, “Did you say movie night?”

“Don’t fucking judge me,” he growls. “Sundays are for movies.”

She raises her hands in surrender, “Why Lorcan Salvaterre, I’d _never_.”

“Fucking liar,” he grumbles. Elide breaks into a peal of laughter, and Lorcan’s stern expression breaks into a smile of his own. “What do you say, Lochan? Wanna join?”

“Sure,” she says, surprising herself. Lorcan seems pleased by her answer, but he frowns when Elide scoops Hellas off the coffee table and brings him to the couch.

“Must you drag that cat over here with you,” he complains, glaring at Hellas as Elide sits down. The cat is quick to make himself at him, playing ignorant to Lorcan’s protests.

They have a weird love-hate relationship, Lorcan and Hellas. Hellas is torn between vying for the man’s affections and hating his every breath; Lorcan pretends to dislike the cat, but Elide has caught him doting on the pet once or twice.

“Well, I need something to keep me warm in this freezing apartment,” Elide remarks. Lorcan keeps the place ice-cold, complains of being perpetually hot. Elide is almost constantly in leggings and a sweater.

“Well, maybe if you put some meat on your bones,” Lorcan drawls, “you wouldn’t be so cold all the fucking time.”

Elide glares at him. “Are you trying to insult me by calling me _skinny?_ ”

“Not at all,” Lorcan defends himself. “Just stating the facts.”

She punches him, the motion jarring Hellas, who cries in protest. Lorcan hisses and glares at her. “What the fuck?”

“You’re such a dick,” Elide tells him, hitting him a second time. A third. “Three things to never comment on to a woman: their age, their weight, or their general appearance!”

“Gods,” he complains, catching her fist in his hand. His palm dwarfs hers. “Why are you like this?”

“I could ask the same of you, jerkface!”

Lorcan’s smile reaches from ear to ear. “Jerkface?”

Hellas yowls a protest at the wrestling. Lorcan releases the cat’s owner and eyes the feline warily.

“Yes,” she decides. “You’re a jerkface.”

The music for the beginning of the movie begins, and Lorcan relents with a shrug of his shoulders. “Alright, I accept it. Can we just watch the movie? I’ve been dying to see this one. I don’t want you yapping through the whole thing.”

*

Halfway through the moves, Hellas ditches Elide for Lorcan.

“Wh-where are you going?” She cries after her cat as he slides from her lap to Lorcan’s. So, not cool.

“He’s probably mad at you because you won’t stop shivering,” her roommate informs her without looking away from the movie. His hand falls naturally to the cat’s back, petting him. “You’re shaking the whole couch.”

“It’s _cold_ ,” she complains, eyeing the blanket in Lorcan’s lap.

He notices. “Don’t ask me to share.”

Elide ignores him. “Share your blanket with me.”

“No.”

“C’mon,” she whines.

“No.” A pause. “Go get your own, roomie.”

She pouts. “My room is all the way on the other side of the apartment, and I’ll miss something.”

Lorcan rolls his eyes. “You aren’t even paying attention now.”

Elide holds her frown, tucking her chin down and blinking up at him with her big brown eyes. Lorcan glares back at her. Hellas purrs contentedly, kneading the blanket in Lorcan’s lap.

He sighs. “ _Fine_.”

Elide cheers as her roommate holds up the blanket, allowing her to wiggle underneath it. Lorcan is about a hundred times warmer than her cat, and she has to catch herself from leaning into his side. That would be weird.

*

When Hellas adjusts so that he’s curled into the space between them, Elide starts to feel warm and heavy. She’s so comfortable, and it is pretty late for her to still be awake. Yet, Elide didn’t want to turn down a rare invitation to hang out with her distant roommate. Lorcan spent most of his time alone or with his friends.

But Elide finds herself focusing on the happy purrs of her cat rather than the movie. She’s starting to drift away, her eyes siding closed, when Lorcan laughs at one of the bad jokes, and she jerks awake again.

This movie is actually pretty terrible, but he’s eating it up.

She straightens her posture. Elide tells herself not to fall asleep right now. She should just get up and go to bed, but her bed is _so far away_.

Her eyes start to close again. She’ll rest them. For just a second. Elide won’t fall asleep. She’s going to finish this movie and keep admiring how good Lorcan looks when he laughs. He doesn’t smile like that often.

She fails.

_Meow. Meooowwww._

“Look,” Lorcan growls from the hall. “I didn’t make the mistake of bringing you home. Go talk to your mother if you want your breakfast.”

An insistent meow, rumbling from the back of Hellas’s throat, is the answer. Elide smirks, even though her eyes remain closed. Her bed is warm, and she has no plans of getting out of it. She’s off today.

Elide jolts awake. Her bed. She’s in her bed. The last thing she remembers is trying really hard not to fall asleep on the couch; she doesn’t think she made it.

A knock on the door.

“El,” Lor grumbles. He doesn’t sound apologetic at all. “Your Feline Overlord is summoning you.”

How did she get here? Does she just not remember, or—did Lorcan carry her to bed?

“Coming,” she calls, shuffling out of bed.

Hellas dances at her ankles as Elide heads for his food bowl. Lorcan is dressed for the gym, arms on display, and the sight is very distracting for her this early in the morning. Her brain isn’t fully functioning, yet, but it’s functioning enough to notice _that_.

“Morning, Sunshine,” Lor teases from the kitchen. His eyes are full of mischief this morning; Elide remembers she hasn’t looked in the mirror yet. She probably looks horrible.

“Don’t make fun of me,” she mumbles. “It’s early. I’m allowed to have bedhead.”

Lorcan grins. “Your bedhead isn’t _that_ bad.”

Elide snorts, pouring food into Hellas’s bowl. As usual, the feline bumps the scoop with his head and sends food flying everywhere.

Lorcan is still staring at her, eyes dancing with amusement. She glares at him as he takes the time to take in her appearance. Elide thinks it’s too early to like him. Even if he may or may not have carried her to bed last night.

“It’s kind of cute, seeing you all ruffled.”

Elide is surprised by the comment; Lorcan appears to be similarly affected. He coughs once to clear his throat and runs a hand through his messy hair.

“Later, El,” he says, leaving Elide gaping behind him and closing the door without another look back.

Did Lorcan just call her _cute_?

*


	6. Chapter 6

The cat licks his lips without shame, examining Lorcan’s dinner with curious, golden eyes. Hellas appeared as soon as Lorcan dropped his food onto the counter. Surprise, surprise.

The man glares at the cat. “Don’t you dare steal my fries.”

Hellas mews innocently, but Lorcan knows better than to turn his back on the feline. Elide’s cat is quite the thief, snatching any number of things behind his human roommates’ backs: hair ties, bottle caps, random pieces of paper.

The cat’s favorite thing to swipe? Lorcan’s food.

“Are you threatening my cat, Lor?” Elide’s voice comes from the back of the apartment, full of amusement. 

It’s the first Lorcan has heard from Elide all day. She’s been hiding out in her room mostly, coming out for food and to fetch her phone. Recently, she’s moved into the bathroom, making all sorts of noise with the hairdryer and music. 

Lorcan doesn’t know what in the world she is up to. Clearly, though, Elide is going somewhere. It’s a little disappointing; he’s gotten used to having her around in the evenings.

“Your cat is threatening _me_ ,” he explains, earning a giggle.

Elide’s shoes click against the floor as she comes down the hallway. Lorcan looks up when he hears her, surprised that she’s wearing heels. It’s dark outside, time for dinner; he wonders where she’s going.

“Alright!” She chirps, striking a pose. “How do I look?”

Lorcan rolls his eyes; he crosses his arms and pretends to find the request annoying. But, truth be told, he has no problem checking out Elide. His roommate is hot; he’s very much aware of it, even if she isn’t.

Elide is dressed for a date, Lorcan realizes with a lurch. The jeans she wears are skintight, practically painted onto her curves, and her off the shoulder top leaves miles of skin bare, offers a tantalizing taste of her cleavage. Fuck—she looks good.

“Well?” Elide interrupts his thoughts. “How do I look?”

Lorcan stares. Hellas coos at the sight of his mom, trotting across the kitchen counter to get his mother’s attention. Elide giggles, scratching her cat behind the ears and earning a chorus of happy chirps. That cat is only nice to Elide. 

“Thanks, kitten. At least, _someone_ cares.” She turns her brown eyes on Lorcan. “Are you just going to stare?”

He clears his throat, searching for the words. “You look—fine.”

Elide’s brown eyes crinkle with laughter. “Thanks, Lor. That was a real boost of confidence.”

“No problem,” he tells her, picking at his fries for something to do. “That’s what I’m here for after all: girl talk.”

She rolls her eyes at him, but her smile doesn’t fade. Elide shrugs, checking the time. “Well, I’ve gotta go.”

“Going on a date, huh?” Lorcan asks, stalling her departure. He’s curious, but when Elide nods, he hates himself, regretting the words even as they continue to escape him. “Same guy? Or a new one?”

“Same one,” she tells him indifferently. “I’m giving it another go.”

“Word,” he says because Lorcan isn’t sure what else to say.

Elide spares him her signature small smile, forged from years of trial and tribulation. Lorcan hates whatever person made it so hard for her to really smile, the kind of smile that shows off all her teeth.

She’s too good, too kind, to be so humble. 

Elide is on her way out when she stops, eyes crinkled with mischief. “Hellas is stealing your food.”

Lorcan immediately looks towards his food. Sure enough, Hellas is in the process of batting a fry away from the rest; Lorcan yelps, as the cat manages to knock one to the counter. Hellas sinks his teeth into the fry and takes off in a flash.

“Hey!” The man yells after the feline, grabbing for the cat, but he’s too late. Hellas is nothing more than a shadow darting away, his goal accomplished.

Elide laughs from the doorway. “You boys have a goodnight!”

*


End file.
